Recreational angling is practised by tens of millions worldwide. Evidence increasingly supports that fish experience pain and stress, prompting ethical reconsideration of angling practices and catch-and-release methodology.
The welfare case for precautionary minimum-harm angling practices is now supported by a scientific consensus that most anglers have not yet fully integrated. Fish that are played exhausted, handled dry, exposed to air for photography and released may die hours later from physiological stress even if they swim away. The angling community's adoption of best practice - barbless hooks, wet mats, fast unhooking, venting tools for deep-water species, kill rather than release when welfare is compromised - is a cultural shift with genuine welfare implications for billions of fish caught annually.